


Observations

by Lavender Threads (lrthreads)



Series: Where is Thy Sting [1]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Bees, Gen, Meet-Awkward, Mention of Parent Death, my weird headcanon that Cassian has (had :P) two dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:40:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24288298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lrthreads/pseuds/Lavender%20Threads
Summary: I wrote this for World Bee Day 2019; you might have seen it on tumblr.  Cassian is a nerd who keeps bees; Jyn is a nerd who writes for the high school paper.
Relationships: Cassian Andor & Jyn Erso
Series: Where is Thy Sting [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1753354
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Observations

Jyn frowned, squinting against the sun. The guy she had to interview had said to meet him at the west entrance after school, but the buses were all gone and the crowds had dissipated. She checked the time again and sighed irritably. She had promised Bodhi an article for the paper, one about bees to go with the warming weather. She was glad to help Bodhi out, but that didn’t mean she wanted to spend forever waiting in the heat.

The door clicked, and she looked up hopefully. _Maybe that’s him._ Slim, dark-haired, not too tall, wearing a red t-shirt and striding toward her hurriedly. _Pay dirt,_ Jyn thought, relieved.

“I’m sorry to keep you waiting. My friend wanted to ask me about our English homework, and it took longer than I was expecting.”

“That’s all right,” Jyn lied.

“I was thinking we could walk.” Cassian Andor eyed the keys she was fidgeting with. "It’s only a couple blocks, and I like to watch for bees along the way.“

“All right.” Jyn pocketed her keys and followed him. She dutifully took pictures with the journalism department’s unwieldy actual camera, and noted down the names of the bee species, and the bee folklore and trivia his brain was apparently filled with. Napoleon had redecorated French chateaux with them as a symbol of industriousness; and in many European cultures it was customary to tell the bees you kept when a member of the family died.

“And here we are.” Cassian pointed at an ordinary-looking house. "But what you want to see is in the back.“

She followed him around the side to a small garden. 

“I’m sorry the garden isn’t much to look at right now. Only the foxglove and the columbine are blooming, since it’s May. Have a seat,” he suggested, pointing to a wooden bench covered with an awning. Jyn did, glancing around. She didn’t see the large boxes covered in swarming bees that she was expecting, just a few old crates wrapped in chicken wire and filled with tubes. "For mining bees,“ Cassian explained, following her gaze. "They’re native, unlike honeybees, and they’re good bees for someone who doesn’t have much spare time. Only a couple hours a year of work, total.”

“Wow.” She’d read that honeybees were very labor-intensive, and wondered how he had the time.

“They make their nests in those tubes. It’s better if you put some clay soil nearby. They’ll use it as raw material.” He pointed at the heap of dirt next to the tube-boxes. "Oh, look, there’s one going in now.“ 

Jyn leaned over hastily, hoping to get a clear shot. She overbalanced, and found herself sitting on her ass on the ground. The camera smacked her chest painfully, but at least it hadn’t hit anything hard. "Shit.” She clambered up, ignoring Cassian’s outstretched hand; he let it fall to his side.

“What do you expect to get out of all this bee stuff?” she asked. Her tone was more than a little peeved; she couldn’t help it. She didn’t think anything was seriously injured, but that fall had been painful.

He shrugged. "My father and I used to keep this garden. He died in a car accident last year. Now it’s just me and my other dad.“

Jyn winced. _Great interviewing skills I’ve got._ "I’m sorry,” she said lamely.

“This is one of the ways I keep his memory alive,” Cassian continued stolidly, as if she hadn’t spoken. "He used to point out that the way we keep paving over everything and planting non-native plants is going to mess up the ecosystem in my lifetime.“

"Not that we aren’t doing plenty to mess it up already,” Jyn muttered.

Cassian nodded. "I want to save the bees.“

"That’s a tall order.”

“Yes. But I’m not the only one who’s trying. There are plenty of bee science programs, at universities and in backyards. There is hope.”

Jyn pursed her lips. Her mother had been a geologist, and tried, before she died of cancer, to make Jyn love the sciences and the earth. Instead Jyn had clung as hard as she could to things that she could do inside, in any old room, no sunlight or special equipment required: reading, writing, math, programming.

“Hope,” Jyn sighed. "That’s good.“ She was surprised that she meant it, even though the numbness that came over her when she thought of her mother was filling her chest. She swiped angrily at her eyes. She tried not to think of her mother, especially when other people were around. "I’m sorry,” she said again. "I have to go.“ She could cobble together an article based on her reading and this disaster of an interview, and Bodhi could fill the space with pictures if he had to. She stumbled out of the garden, and back to school. She sat in her truck for a long time, resting her folded arms on the steering wheel and crying into them, before she felt like she could drive home.

\- - -

She wrote the article during her lunch break the next day, and turned it in to Bodhi. He thanked her; she assured him it was no problem, and promptly forgot about it. Until the day she found Cassian Andor hovering by her truck in the parking lot, clutching a copy of the school paper. She stopped short and stared at him.

"Your article was good,” he offered, brandishing the paper.

“How did you know this was my car?”

“There aren’t too many turquoise pickup trucks with geodes hanging from the rearview mirror.”

Jyn grimaced. The truck had been her mother’s; she hadn’t been able to bring herself to take the geode down. The other half was on her keychain.

“Still doesn’t tell me how you know that this one’s mine.”

He sighed. "There’s no way I can say this without sounding creepy. You seemed … kind of messed up, when you left my house, so I followed you. I just wanted to be sure you weren’t hurt or something. Or too messed up to drive. That’s all. I’m sorry.“

"You followed me and watched me cry? That is pretty creepy.”

“I didn’t get that close! I just thought you were sleeping, and I left after a few minutes. I swear.” He was clearly struggling with curiosity now. "Why were you crying?“

"We’re even now, don’t you think? I was an ass, and you were a creep. We both apologized, for what that’s worth. Let’s not make this complicated. I’d like to go home now, so please move out of my way.”

“Okay.” He spread his hands and stepped aside. "You’re not going to run me over accidentally-on-purpose, are you?“

Jyn snorted. "No. But maybe you should get on the sidewalk just in case. Unless you want a ride home.”

He shrugged. "Sure, why not.“

She’d been being sarcastic when she said that, for fuck’s sake. But she couldn’t say that without feeling like an asshole. She unlocked the car and waved him toward the passenger seat. They were silent throughout the short drive.

"Thanks for the ride,” he said, when she pulled into his driveway. "If you ever want to come over, the garden will be looking nicer in a few weeks. It’s a good place to sit and think.“

"And get stung by bees?” Jyn inquired. "Stimulating.“

He shook his head. "Mining bees don’t sting without extreme provocation. You’d be safe from that.”

“Fantastic. Well, good luck with your bees.”

“See you.” He climbed out of the truck, and waved once as she drove away.


End file.
